Requests for police service generally come in one of two ways: through a personal contact with an officer who happens to be near the scene or through a call to the department.  This section concerns calls that are made to law enforcement agencies and handled by a dispatcher. The dispatcher is responsible for gathering information about the situation and dispatching the call to a patrol officer. The dispatch function can be managed by the police department alone or through a system shared with other emergency services.

While some law enforcement agencies will not have the power to affect dispatch policy directly, due to constraints such as shared dispatch, they may be able to change procedures through dispatcher training and memoranda of understanding between the police and dispatch service. The following recommendations address important dispatch protocols that should include policies for information gathering regarding whether mental illness is a factor in the call and the potential for violence, and using appropriate language when dispatching calls. ^[1]  

Recommendations:

a.

Provide dispatchers with questions that help determine whether mental illness is relevant to the call for service.

b.

Provide dispatchers with tools that determine whether the situation involves violence or weapons.

c.

Provide dispatchers with a flowchart to facilitate dispatch of the call to designated personnel.

d.

Use designated codes and appropriate language when dispatching the call.